Virtually overnight their following on Facebook has begun to take-off with over 500 fans liking their page already.

Whilst McGrath have been surprisingly slow to adopt Social Media previously, the Timeline functionality on Facebook Fan Pages has meant that a history of their company could be uploaded, featuring images and company milestones that took place even before Facebook existed. This helps to give the impression that McGrath have been on Facebook for a long time.

It will be interesting to see what McGrath do next. I think the real estate industry will be watching this page very closely.

(Disclaimer: I have previously consulted directly with John McGrath and have presented on Social Media to some of the McGrath team)

Social Media looks set to continue to change the way real estate agents market themselves, their business and their listings.

Now whilst some people may interpret this to mean that instead of using the major property portal sites like realestate.com.au, signboards, print media, window displays, etc, or even an agent for that matter and that a property owner could simply put their property up onto Twitter, Facebook or YouTube and it will sell. If that did happen and the buyer paid the market price or above market price then that would be what I’d call an “Epic Real Estate Fluke!”

Selling a property for the right price in today’s market requires a strategic approach and as more and more property seekers are now spending so much time researching the web before buying a home, the effective use of Social Media should definitely become part of the property marketing strategy.

As I mentioned in show, the initial results speak volumes for the effective use of Social Media in marketing a property the way that Laura & Rohan Bell have adopted it…

“‎48 groups is very rare in our area. We normally average 12 groups through an open house. The open house before this one had 21 groups through and is that same price range and 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. So there is the comparison. More than twice the attendees.” ~ Braden Walters, True Property

The Erskineville Apartment has it’s own (blog) website ErskinevilleApartment.com.au which “attracted more than 600 page views within hours of going live” as reported in the article.

“We were a little bit nervous about people passing the property around and saying what they like but it’s full disclosure and if you’re honest with people, it’s easier for them to make a decision,” Mr Braden said.

He said social media evoked attachment with potential buyers.

“On social media, people can ask the owners questions so they can portray what they love about the property versus what the agent writes in his marketing.”

As I mentioned in today’s show and was quoted in yesterday’s article…

“A lot of agents use a standard approach to marketing, whereas this involves a lot more of the feeling around the home because it comes from the owners’ perspective.”

But he warns that while social media exposes listings to a new audience, it requires a well-planned strategy.

“The biggest thing that needs to be done is that the agent has to have some sort of ability to administer the site … the agent has to be very careful the property isn’t misrepresented.”

…and I must say that it was really pleasing to see that amongst the numerous “TIPS (from home owner Laura Bell)” she said…

Know your limits: “Ms Bell directed all inquiries to her real estate agent. “That’s not my field of expertise, best to leave that to somebody who knows.”

Content: “The number one thing is populating the blog with great things.”

Another way that I have seen agents using a similar approach to get the sellers involved in some of the online context and what it’s like to live in their place is by interviewing the sellers via video and uploading it onto YouTube.

About Greg Vincent

Greg Vincent The Online Guy for Real Estate Professionals is a Speaker, Trainer and is a highly respected online strategist. As a real estate professional with Internet and Social Media nous, Greg Vincent presents the how-to on getting the most out of the internet and social media without the “geek speak”. His insights into on-line real estate marketing are sought throughout Australia and valued for cutting through the confusion that locks many out of gaining full value from the web. After 20 years as a real estate agent, Greg now has multiple web-based businesses and works with some of the best agents in Australia.

There are no listings, agent profiles etc. I like to see Agencies on Facebook and the like, but it must have a purpose. This has some nice little articles and some interesting notes, but stripped away it is just another fan page.

And really McCrath can do better than this, they are lucky they get so much publicity (and we give them that here too)

As for what they should do next? Actually probably catch up to their competitors. Harsh? Maybe, but this is McGrath after all.

Thanks for this! Great find regarding Tony Santolin’s property video. This is the first ever property video I have seen which has grabbed my attention start to finish. I might need to adopt these techniques and re-introduce property videos into my marketing schedules. I stopped using property videos last year as they mostly seemed cheesy, repetitive and frankly a bit of a yawn-fest (only my opinion).

Also, McGrath is up to approx 700 facebook “likes”. The amount of likes is not a surprise, but this is long overdue. I created a page as an individual sales agent and have reached almost 70 likes. 700 would be nice!

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